Community Links
14. Model home tour. Visit a model home and observe the use of color. Record
your observations. Did the colors match your preferences? Did the colors refl ect
current trends? How were colors used to create mood in various rooms? Identify
several psychological impacts the colors may have on some people. Summarize
your fi ndings in a brief report to the class.
15. Analyze color. Analyze the color scheme of your bedroom or other room in your
home, or in the home of someone you know. Which of the colors used is your
favorite? How long has this room had this appearance? What color scheme was
used before? If you could redecorate next week, what colors would you select?
What do you think your color preferences reveal about your personality? Take
one or more pictures of this room with a digital camera to place in an electronic
presentation. Include examples and colors you might want to use in the future.
Share your electronic presentation with the class.
16. Color comparison. Locate a home or business in the community whose exterior
has a pleasing combination of colors. Identify the colors used and how they were
used. Also, identify a building’s exterior that represents the opposite of pleasing to
you. What colors are used? Which colors would you change if you had the job of
updating the look of the building on a budget?
Academic Connections
17. Social studies. Search the Internet for current color trends in residential design.
What cultural infl uences, elements of nature, or other factors inspire the new color
trends? How strongly does culture infl uence color? Which of the new color trends
do you fi nd most appealing? Share your fi ndings during a small group discussion.
18. Science. Use Internet or print resources to investigate how light reflectance value
(LRV) can infl uence an interior designer’s choice of colors for a room design.
How might LRV infl uence the aesthetics and function of a room design? Write a
summary of your fi ndings to share with the class.
Technology Applications
19. Analyze color harmonies. Use a digital camera to take pictures of 10 rooms
that display good interior design. (Perhaps some are in your home or in historical
homes that you have visited.) For each room, identify the type of color harmony
that predominates. Also, analyze possible reasons for the color harmonies
selected, given the purpose of each room. Using presentation software, combine
your photographs and explanations to share with the class.
20. Computer design project. Using CADD or another popular interior-design
software program, create two small rooms of the same dimensions. Cover the
walls of one room with light, dull, cool colors. Cover the walls of the other room
with dark, bright, warm colors. Analyze which room looks larger and which looks
smaller. Why? Print a copy of the room colors for each room. Write a brief report
summarizing your analysis.
Part 4 The Inside Story